Vettel suffers dizziness testing Shield

15 Julio 2017

The new concept - a major evolution of the divisive 'Halo concept that tested at several events in 2016 - is being given its first outing at Silverstone this weekend to allow the FIA to gather feedback on the potential issues of visibility and aesthetics.

Sebastian Vettel provided some negative feedback after testing the Shield cockpit protection device during Friday practice for the British Grand Prix, complaining of dizziness. "Mercedes seem to be able to pull out a bit more performance than us". It's probably because of the curvature, you get quite a bit of distortion, plus you get quite a bit of downwash down the straights pushing the helmet forwards.

The changing weather gave the teams a chance to send their drivers out for the final minutes on intermediate tyres after Max Verstappen had gone off the track, but without damage.

This is sure to be understood well by the big crowds at Silverstone, where more than 120,000 are likely to attend on Sunday if the weather is favourable.

Bottas had been fastest in both of yesterday's sessions, but is expected to be hit with a five-second grid penalty for having an unscheduled gearbox change. This engine has quite a lot of miles to do over its life so you try to save it, but it's working and we didn't have any problems. A bit up and down.